


Chained Wings

by RikuKingdomHearts3



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cloud and Sephiroth friendship, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Not all characters tagged but it's just a lot of cameos, Other Final Fantasy Characters - Freeform, Wingfic, Wings AU, brotherly Sephiroth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23017663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuKingdomHearts3/pseuds/RikuKingdomHearts3
Summary: In a world where people with wings exist, they are shunned from the world. Humanity looks down at these unique people as monsters, and think that it's better if the winged people were locked up. One day at the facility, where the winged kind are prisoners, a young blond boy is brought in to join them. But he has a wing different from the rest, a more demon-like wing than angelic.
Relationships: Sephiroth & Cloud Strife
Comments: 10
Kudos: 48





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got a new story here and it is quite the bit AU idea.  
> Now it is a FF7 story but I do have cameos of other FF characters. You'll see soon enough, but I hope you all enjoy!

The day that the winged people showed up, was the day that everything started to change. The winged kind started to show up without any reason, and they couldn't even understand or explain themselves. It never made sense anyways how they showed up in the first place. Even though many people had looked into it, the reasoning or logic of how the winged kind existed was far from any logical explanation. All they knew were a few basic things about them after all the years since they first started to show up.

The first thing being that the winged kind were born every seven years. Why seven? Another unexplained question. But it was in fact seven, and somehow that was truly the most important number for the winged kind, yet no one could find a way to explain it yet.

So with every seven years, winged ones were born and there were seven born each time. While it was not a large amount of this new kind appearing out of the blue, it was something small but manageable.

At first people marveled at the winged kind. They were unlike anything else ever seen before for they didn't have two wings… they had one wing. One wing on either the right or left side and each wing was different from the next. From the colors to the style and shape of the wing, everyone had their own kind, and it only made these winged people even more mysterious. At the beginning, they were seen as angelic deities, something people could look up to.

But like with anything new and mysterious, rumors are spread. The winged people never caused much trouble, but word passed around just what kind of creatures or monsters these people truly could be. They soon started to wonder how someone with only one wing could fly so perfectly. What was once a thought of angelic beings turned to demonic monsters. All of that fear and doubt fled to everyone's mind and soon opinions were shifted.

Within several more years people wanted to do something about it. There was still the growing fear rising up within humans and the winged kind was something to be feared in their eyes. The fear that these winged creatures were monsters and that they shouldn't exist. No one wanted to take any chances so certain measures were taken and soon the winged kind were being captured left and right.

Now an elite group of humans holds the winged kind in a facility hidden away from the rest of the world. Anytime that new winged children are revealed, they make sure to find them and bring them in. Because of the fear that the humans have there is usually little to no opposition to the children being taken away.

Now at the facility, the winged kind wait to see the new children brought in. They know that only days ago the day came about where seven children would be revealed as winged kind. They only had to wait long enough for the humans who ran the facility to go out and capture the new children. It was nothing new to them at this point, everything was how it had been for them for years now, but what would happen on this day for the new children was not what they expected. Something new would be there that had never happened before and it would be the change of everything.

* * *

The winged people sat around the main commons area, many of them talking to one another. They were all waiting… waiting for the speakers to come on and announce that the children had been found. It wouldn't be too much longer now for what they could figure. It usually only took a couple of days for the children to be captured and brought to the facility.

Sure enough the speakers clicked on. The cold and cruel sounding voice belonged to none other than the man who ran the place; Hojo. "Good morning to all you winged ones. You should be _happy_ to know we have finally gotten more of your wretched kind. Though two have managed to elude us, we will get them in time. But in the meantime take in the other five as you always do."

The speaker clicked off and a door opened. Men dressed in heavy body armor marched in, each carrying guns, ready to fire at a moment's notice of any problems. In each of their free hands they gripped a young child's wrist. Before even coming to the center of the room they tossed the children careless forward and left without a word.

Now that it was only the winged kind left in the room, all eyes fell to the pile of five small children. They all huddled together, sniffling and whining softly. Each of them had blankets wrapped around them, covering up their wings that now were probably showing.

When a winged one first is revealed, they can't control how to hide their wing. All of the older winged ones knew that it would take some time for the young ones to figure out how to do that, but for the meantime they would just have their wings showing.

Slowly the children raised up their heads to look where they were. All of them having big wide eyes full of fear, not knowing or understanding what had happened. Right away a young woman stepped forward, she had long straight black hair and brown eyes.

"Hello little ones," she said speaking as softly as she could. "My name's Rinoa. I know you are probably very scared right now, but you can trust us. We're like you."

All of the little children looked at her with wide, now curious, eyes. They waited a moment before she smiled at them. "We all have wings, just like you."

In the blink of an eye a light whitish-yellow wing appeared on Rinoa's left side. The little children gasped and let out soft awe sounds as they looked at her pretty feathered wing.

"So you see? There is nothing to be afraid of. So how about you tell us who you are, we are all very curious."

The children looked to one another before looking back at Rinoa. Then they all looked around to the rest of the people that stood in the room. Slowly one of the children stood up first, a boy with medium length, light blond hair that was slightly windswept. He had fair light skin and teal eyes.

"Um… m-my name is Tyler," the boy said, speaking quietly.

Rinoa smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Tyler. Can we see your wing?"

Tyler nodded before taking off the blanket covering his back, revealing a medium grey wing that was on his right side. Soon after he did that a girl with long, semi-spiky blackish blue hair stood up. Her skin was a bit more pale but she had deep green eyes that stood out.

Without a word she took off her blanket showing her ash grey wing that was on her left side. "Mizari…" her voice was far more quiet than Tyler's had been, her eyes averted looking to the floor.

Rinoa greeted her just like before and looked to the remaining three children who still looked rather scared and uncertain. Rinoa knelt down, getting closer to all of them. "I know you all must be afraid. But we are all like you and we understand. We only want to help and take care of all of you."

Right away the next child nodded, a girl with straight black hair. Her hair was long with her bangs falling in front of her face, nearly covering her blue eyes. It took her a moment before she stood up and dropped the blanket. Her wing was on her right side and was steel grey, though the tips were much more white than the rest. "I'm Skyler."

Rinoa smiled once more. It seemed that the children all were far more quiet than the last ones seven years ago. But either way she made sure she was doing what she could to try and ease them. All of the others were just watching as she spoke to the children, seeing her as the best one to try and comfort them.

The second to last child now stood up to join the others. She had big blue eyes and short, dark brown hair with some feasible noticeable red highlights. "My name's Luna." Her wing was on her left side and was a pencil grey shade.

Now all that was left was one little boy with spiky, golden blond hair. His eyes were big and blue and the fear had not left them since he was brought here. He wrapped the blanket around him tightly, not budging an inch.

"It's okay, I said it before, you don't need to be afraid. Can you tell us your name?" Rinoa asked as she moved a bit closer to the last child.

The little blond muttered something under his breath, far too quiet to be heard.

"Can you say that again? I couldn't hear you."

"C-Cloud…" the boy said, raising his voice a little louder.

"Cloud, it's nice to meet you. You think you can show us your wing now?"

Cloud shook his head, pulling the blanket tighter around himself.

"You don't have to be afraid. Like I said, we all have a wing here. There is nothing to be ashamed about."

Cloud looked to Rinoa and then to the other people in the room. All of them nodding and some even giving friendly smiles. Slowly Cloud stood up, standing near the other children. After a moment he sighed and finally dropped the blanket.

At that moment everyone in the room let out a gasp and faint murmurs to one another. Cloud's wing was not a feathered wing like the rest of theirs. His wing, that was on his left side, was black and sleek with no feathers at all. The shape of it was far more angular too. It was the complete opposite of an angelic wing… it looked like a demonic wing instead.

"What kind of wing is that?"

"Never seen one like that before."

"Could it be some kind of bad omen?"

"So many years and never before have we had a wing like that before."

Cloud whimpered as he overheard the whispers coming from the others in the room. He went to pick up his blanket again and wrapped it around himself. He tried his best to hold in his emotions, but he had never felt so scared before in his life.

Suddenly a new voice spoke up. "Why are all of you speaking about him like he is some kind of monster?"

Cloud looked up to see a young teenager walking towards him. His hair was long and a rather unique color of silver. His hair reached past his shoulders, with some of it falling in front of his face. His eyes were a light green and were sharp and direct. He took a few more steps forward until he was standing right next to Cloud.

"Why should his style of wing make any difference? After all these years you choose to suddenly turn against one of our own? None of you outcast me or Genesis for having a black wing, yet we are the only two here like that. You do not ostracize Angeal for his wing, even though it is far more uniquely shaped the all of the rest. To outcast this boy based on what his wing looks like makes you no better than the humans who look down on us with disgust."

All of the people in the room stared, their eyes starting to look remorseful in the next minute.

"We're sorry. But there has just never been a wing like his before," one of the people said.

"And? Your point? It could just mean our kind is evolving. New wing styles could be showing up before we know it, and this boy… Cloud, he could be the start of it."

Others nodded in agreement and soon enough all the tension that was in the air from before was gone. Cloud sighed with relief, but he could not take his eyes off the boy who had stood up for him.

Without a word though he started to walk off, and right away Cloud followed behind him, wondering where he was going. A moment later he looked to his side and stared down at Cloud. "Why are you following me? You should stay back with the others. One of the adults will come forth and take you in."

"Why?" Cloud asked curiously.

"Because that is what we do here. When new children are brought in, the older ones step up to take in and raise them. After all, you still are only little children and you need an adult to take care of you."

"Why not you though?"

The silver haired boy snorted. "I'm only 14, I am not qualified to take care of anyone."

"But you stood up for me. Can't I stay with you?" Cloud asked as he reached forward to grab onto the older boy's hand. "What's your name? You haven't said yet."

The older boy stopped and stared down at Cloud, visible confusing in his eyes. Right away he yanked away his hand from Cloud while the look in his eyes dissipated a moment later. "Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth," Cloud repeated. He then smiled. "So can I stay with you? Please? Pleeeease?"

Again Sephiroth looked very confused at Cloud. He blinked slowly before giving his answer. "No."

He started to walk away again but Cloud grabbed onto his hand once more. "Please Sephiroth? I bet you can do it. I'll be good and we can be friends! Please?"

"I suppose you are not going to give up on this?"

Cloud grinned widely. "Nope!"

Sephiroth let out a long sigh. "Fine, I guess there is no way I can deter you away. I won't have any idea what I am doing though."

"Yay!" Cloud suddenly wrapped his arms around Sephiroth, giving him a tight hug.

"But one thing…" Sephiroth pulled away from Cloud. "You must stop with all the grabbing and hugs."

"But why?"

"I am not partial to such things."

"Why?"

Sephiroth sighed before he started walking again. "Don't ask so many questions either. I don't care to answer them all."

Cloud frowned slightly. He didn't quite understand Sephiroth, but he was happy that he let him tag along. He still had no idea where he was and that still did scare him a little, but apparently everyone had wings here. He wasn't alone and he found himself very curious about Sephiroth and the others. Though he knew he would have to find a way to get Sephiroth to answer the questions later. One way or another he would figure out how to get him to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes there are some minor OCs just cause i needed spots to be filled. But the OCs are from my friends.
> 
> Tyler belongs to tmart.x13  
> Luna belongs to Luna Lillyth (FanFiction.net user)  
> Skyler belongs to Holden Skyler (FanFiction.net user)  
> Mizari belongs to TheDeadGirlRisen
> 
> Either way this story's main focus is on Cloud and Sephiroth. Hope you all enjoyed the start!


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost messed up on posting this chapter whoops, but I think I got it all fixed.

Sephiroth walked quietly through the corridors of the facility with Cloud following right by his side. As they walked Cloud looked around every which way, his face constantly shifting from curious to worried. Everywhere he looked there were doors and hallways. Everything was a white color and looked rather dull with no decoration or anything. Though he started to notice something the further they walked.

"Why are there no windows to look outside?"

"I thought I said to not ask questions," Sephiroth stated, not once slowing his walking pace.

"But I gotta ask questions. My… my mom said if I was ever curious about the world I should always ask questions. So that way I can learn more!"

"Hmph…" Sephiroth grumbled softly. It was clear that this little kid wasn't going to let up any time soon, and if he was going to keep asking him, Sephiroth figured he might as well just give him what he wanted. "There are no windows to the outside because this building is underground. We are no longer privileged to see the sky anymore."

"But why?"

"The humans do not want us, the winged kind, flying about I suppose. They want to keep us here away from everyone else."

"But I thought…" Cloud came to a stop, staring down at the ground. "I thought I was human? Why do I have a wing now?"

Sephiroth actually stopped walking, turning around rather briskly to look at the child. He could see the worry and confusion in the child's eyes… and he could relate. Everyone here including himself felt that way at the start. But he wasn't about to let this child's thoughts become misguiding in anyway based on what he already knew prior to being brought here.

Sephiroth walked over to him and knelt down to his eye level. "That's what we all think at first. But then we find that we have a wing. We are not human, but something greater than that."

"Something greater?" Cloud asked softly. He raised his head to look at his wing. He stretched it slightly and watched as he made it move a little.

"We don't know the origins of why we are given a wing, but we have them and it makes us unique compared to humans. And humans fear things that are different, so they fear us. But we are not to be feared."

Cloud continued to stare at his wing, humming softly to himself while he thought over what Sephiroth was telling him. Even if he didn't quite understand all of it, he liked what Sephiroth was telling him. It made him feel a bit better than how he was feeling before, but he was still left with many questions.

"But why is my wing different? Everyone was saying it was different."

"We don't know, but I do not see it as a bad thing. It only makes you more unique. There are many of us here that have traits that stand out more than others. We are all winged ones, but we are also special in our own ways," Sephiroth replied. "Now… is that the last of your questions?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, I got a lot more! Like where are we going?"

"We are going to one of the smaller areas where my friends are."

"There's more? I thought there were a lot of people back there, but is there more everywhere here?"

"Yes, there are more of us around here. This building has been in place for hundreds of years from what I heard. With winged king showing up every seven years it does add up. Hojo… the detestable man who runs this place… is just a great descendant of the first human who created this place. Hojo just takes after what the rest of his family has been doing for all these years."

"Ooh… I think I get it. Let's go see your friends!"

Sephiroth shook his head before turning around to continue his walk. Once again Cloud was right beside him, now staring at him with a new curious look. "Why is your hair white?"

Sephiroth sighed again before coming to a stop. He stared down coldly at Cloud. "No more questions."

"But…"

"I don't want to be your teacher. I'm letting you follow me but I won't let you continue if you persist with all of these questions."

Cloud frowned, his eyes watering slightly. "I-I'm sorry…"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes at the little one's sadness. It wasn't something that he should be so upset about, but then again the child had recently been through a lot. He couldn't fault him for that.

"Fine. One more question for now, and then you stop asking, okay?"

Right away Cloud's demeanor changed. He smiled happily and nodded quickly. "Okay! I got it!"

"And for your answer. It isn't white, it is silver," Sephiroth replied as he ran a hand through his hair. "And to why I have silver hair, it is because I am a winged one. Not everyone has such unusual hair colors, but some of us do, and it is because we have a wing. Birds are known for having large ranges of colors, so we have come to assume the same can be applied to us."

"So is that why my hair maybe is more yellow like a chocobo?" Cloud asked, his voice a little softer than before.

"That can be a comparison if you want," Sephiroth said. He thought about telling Cloud off for asking another question, but he could see the boy had worry in his eyes again.

"Kids use to call me a chocobo head cause of it. Didn't know why my hair was so yellow… but you said it's cause I got a wing?"

"That would be the general assumption that we all have, yes. Now come, let's not waste anymore time."

Sephiroth began to walk once more, not waiting to see if Cloud was going to follow him, but sure enough Cloud was right by his side a second later. After a bit of walking down a hallway, they came to an open area that looked rather similar to the area that had the other winged people, but this was just a bit smaller. Cloud saw that there were a few sitting around at some tables and he began to wonder which ones were Sephiroth's friends.

Soon they approached a table that sat two young boys who looked around the same age as Sephiroth. One of them had straight, medium length black hair while the other had short red hair. When Sephiroth came closer to them, they right away looked to Cloud and then to Sephiroth.

"So, he's one of the new ones?" the raven-haired one asked.

"What a unique wing," the other mused.

Cloud quickly moved behind Sephiroth, holding on to his shirt. The other two let out small laughs at the sight. Then the raven-haired one spoke up again. "Well Seph, what on earth did you do to get the little guy to follow you?"

"I did nothing of the sort. He chose to follow me for whatever reason."

"Sephiroth stood up for me!" Cloud said, popping his head out from behind Sephiroth. "Everyone was staring. Staring at my wing saying things and then Sephiroth told them not to say those things!"

"So now you are a motivational speaker? Wish I had actually gone now to see this." the redhead said.

"I only told the others to not look down upon him for having a different wing. That was all."

The redhead chuckled lightly. "Sure, if you say so." He then looked over to Cloud. "So why don't you introduce yourself to us, little one?"

Cautiously Cloud stepped out from his hiding spot and approached the table. "My name's Cloud. Are you Sephiroth's friends?"

"Yes we are," the redhead replied. "My name is Genesis."

"And I am Angeal."

"And you all have wings too? The Rinoa lady said that everyone has a wing here, and Seph said you two have a wing as well. Is it true?"

"Yes, that is true, we all have wings. Each is unique from the next, but that is what makes us all special," Genesis replied.

"Will I get to see all your wings?" Cloud asked.

"In due time when we wish to show. We usually keep them hidden for the time being unless we are to go flying in the caverns."

"Hidden and flying in the caverns?"

Angeal shook his head. "Did you not explain anything to him, Seph? If he is going to follow you around you might as well tell him the basics."

"I have no need to be a teacher," Sephiroth replied bluntly before taking his seat at the table.

Cloud sat right next to him and smiled his way. "But you already did good at explaining a lot to me! Can't you tell me more? Please? Pleeeease?"

Sephiroth stared at Cloud's wide and pleading eyes. He still could not understand for the life of him why this child was so intent on wanting to stick around him. It just didn't make any sense, but he could not actually find himself to cast the child to someone else. It was something odd that he thought about, something he had never thought or considered before.

Sephiroth slowly ended up slightly. "I can try to, but I feel Genesis and Angeal would be beneficial to help."

"Oh no, I don't think we need to help," Angeal laughed. "I think you captivated his attention enough on your own."

"Agreed, but we will gladly listen in to your little lecture," Genesis added teasingly.

"You two are never any help," Sephiroth deadpanned. He then turned back to Cloud thinking over what he would try and explain first. "The first thing I could explain… I guess it would be about your wing. It will take you a bit, but after a bit of practice you will be able to hide it like the rest of us."

"But where does it go?"

"That… I wouldn't know how to explain it. Let's… how about we just say it has to do with the magic we have. The wing is still there but it is just hidden when we don't need it."

"Like how the Rinoa lady made her wing appear out of nowhere?"

"Yes, that would be it. In the next few weeks you'll probably be taught how to tap into your magic to hide it," Sephiroth continued on.

"Oh! You going to teach me right?"

"Ah…" Sephiroth faulted slightly, not knowing how to respond. Though as he tried to think he could hear the faint chuckles from Angeal and Genesis. "I think it would be better if someone older taught you. I told you before, I am only 14."

"But that still means you are older than me! So you know waaaaay more than I do! So you can teach me!" Cloud exclaimed.

"I wouldn't know how to teach it very well."

"I bet you can! You just gotta try!" Cloud replied cheerfully. "I believe you can do it!"

"Hey, the kid believes in you Seph, that has to count for something," Agneal replied.

"And I believe you should stay out of it," Sephiroth replied quickly.

Angeal shrugged. "Well we are only sitting here watching, not much else we can do."

"I feel this is going to end up being some very long weeks…" Sephiroth muttered, trying to not continuously stare at the wide and excited eyes that Cloud had.

He still didn't fully understand the child, he never had been very good at understanding others in the first place. He only had managed to make friends with Angeal and Genesis because they were captured around the same time and had enough time to talk before being brought to the facility. There was that and also the uniqueness that each of them had that managed to bring them closer. But other than those two, there weren't any others he was really closer to. He was always cold and distant to the rest and no one seemed to mind.

Despite that, Cloud walked right up to him with no fears or worries about how he acted. It was probably because he was a child and didn't understand if someone wanted their space or not. But either way he could see that Cloud wasn't going to leave his side anytime soon, and he had no intent to be cold or mean towards the child. He may have had his cold distance, but that coldness was not cruel. Yet he felt something else when looking at this little child… this little child that was looking up to him already with such admiration. If this child was truly going to look up to him, wanting to learn from him, then he would do what he could, even if he had no idea what he was really doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So trying my best to build up the world lore and stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed and see you next time!


	3. Chapter 2

"Can you tell me more now? What was about the caverns?" Cloud asked.

"Ah yes, the caverns. I already explained we have no windows to the outside. We are only here in this building… but still Hojo and all his workers want to constantly observe us. So to compensate for not being able to fly in the sky, there is an area to this facility that leads further underground. A place where we can practice our flying."

"Can we really fly?" Cloud asked while his eyes widened. "Even if we just got one wing?"

"Yes, it's just something that we are able to do, but I don't have the answers to why," Sephiroth answered.

"Can I see?! Then I can see your wing!"

Cloud was beaming with excitement now, a complete 180 from the fear and worry that he had before. That was probably due to the fact he was a child and could not fully grasp the situation yet. But Sephiroth knew all too well that it wouldn't last forever. Eventually everything would catch up with Cloud and it would weigh down on him tremendously. Sephiroth wasn't even sure he would know how to handle that situation when it would come seeing as he was going to be stuck with Cloud for quite a while.

"Another time," Sephiroth replied perhaps a bit too bluntly.

"Aw… why not?"

"Because. That is what I said."

"You don't have to be so harsh on the kid," Angeal replied, brushing back some strains of hair that fell in front of his face. "He is still young and has a lot of questions. He's got a lot to learn about our kind."

"Questions all while trapped in a horrid place that has taken away our freedom," Sephiroth scoffed.

Genesis clicked his tongue. "Come Seph, you shouldn't be so blunt about the situation. Not around the young one here, he still has yet to understand it all. We shouldn't scare him from the start."

"But I don't get it…" Cloud interjected. He then looked up to Sephiroth with wide and pleading eyes. "Why are we all here? Why do we all have wings? Can't you tell me, Seph?"

Sephiroth sighed. "Don't call me Seph. Secondly… fine… if it will get you to stop asking more questions, I can show you to the caverns and show you my wing."

Cloud jumped up from his seat, still smiling greatly. "Yay! Let's go."

Sephiroth sighed once more before he stood up. Cloud moved a little closer to his side again and stared just like every single time he had already. "Can I hold your hand this time?"

Sephiroth shook his head and crossed his arms. "No."

He started to walk away without another word, leaving Cloud to frown. He looked down to the ground, sniffling slightly. He just couldn't figure out Sephiroth just yet. He stood up for him in front of all those others, but then just wanted to not talk much or do anything fun. It just didn't make any sense to Cloud at all.

The next moment he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Genesis smiling at him. "There there little one, you shouldn't be so upset about Seph. He… shall we say just has a hard outer shell. It takes some time before you can get past it to really get to know him."

"So he doesn't hate me?" Cloud asked softly.

Angeal walked a little closer and crossed his arms, looking rather serious. "Now why would you assume that?"

"Cause he doesn't wanna talk with me a lot or stuff. And… And back home there were kids that never wanted to play with me. They would run off and leave me whenever I asked if I could play with them," Cloud replied, trying to keep himself from crying.

Angeal could see how hurt the child must have been on the inside. Even before his wing appeared he was already pushed around by others from what he could tell. Slowly Angeal reached out and placed a hand on top of Cloud's head. He ruffled the kid's hair slightly before smiling.

"Well Gen and I know Seph rather well. He doesn't hate you, he is just hard to get along with. He'll loosen up eventually, just give him some time. Okay?"

"Hmm, okay!" Cloud said. He then quickly looked around the room to see that Sephiroth was nowhere in sight. "Hey! Where did he go?"

"Off to where he was going to show you his wing, remember?" Genesis said. "Come let's go. If you so wish, you could hold my hand if you want."

Cloud smiled happily at the generosity from Genesis, taking his hand right away. After that the three of them began to walk further through the building, heading down various hallways. Along the way Cloud found himself feeling super curious once more. Though he knew Sephiroth said not to ask so many questions, Genesis and Angeal never said that. Still, Cloud wanted to be safe than sorry.

"Can I ask you two a question? Just one question for now?"

"By all means, ask away," Genesis answers.

"Why do you all wear those clothes? And why do they have a hole in the back?"

It was something Cloud had noticed right away, but he didn't have a lot of time to question it before. Everyone in here wore a sleeveless turtleneck and slightly baggy pants. There had only been three colors he had seen though with the outfits; blue, black, and a reddish-purple. Sephiroth and Angeal were wearing the black color but Genesis wore the reddish-purple.

"These are what we are given for clothes. Sadly they do not give us a lot of creative freedom here," Genesis answered while chuckling softly, noticing Cloud asked more than what he had said originally. He didn't press on it though for he actually liked getting to explain these things to the younger child.. "The colors don't really have much meaning other than just what we prefer. The cuts in the back are for our wings, or did you not notice that your shirt is torn in the back?"

Cloud slowly reached back with his free hand and felt that the back of his shirt was in fact ripped apart. "Oh, I think I get it. So I'll get clothes like that too? And pick what color I want?"

"Eventually yes," Genesis answered before they turned down another hallway.

Soon they came to a different opening than before. The ceiling was much higher here and there was much more open space with no objects in the way. This room also had a stone wall on the opposite side and a fence lining around one side of the floor.

Sephiroth was already standing near the fence to Cloud let go of Genesis's hand and ran over to the silver haired man. When he got there he saw that beyond the fence was dug out, he could see down below, but it looked really far down from where they stood.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted cheerfully. "You're going to show me your wing now?"

"Yes, that is why we came here, isn't it?"

"Yah! So show me! I wanna see!"

"All right, but calm yourself down first. No need to get so excited. It's just a wing after all."

"But you said you have a special wing! Oh! I remember now! Genesis has one too! And Angeal!" Cloud turned around quickly to see the other two just behind him. "Can I see your wings too please?"

"I never expected to have such a fan," Genesis grinned. "How much did you tell him about us, Seph?"

"Nothing much other than the uniqueness of our wings. It really should not be of much importance."

Angeal walked a bit closer, keeping his eyes on Sephiroth. "The kids never seen anything like this before, so to him it is rather important."

"Well if you say that, then why don't you go first?" Sephiroth replied.

Angeal smiled slowly. "Gladly."

Cloud watched as white, feathered wing suddenly sprouted from Angeal's right side. His eyes widened as he took in what he looked like. It wasn't like the lady Rinoa's wing or any of the other children that he had been with. This wing had a completely different look to it, it almost looked like it was two wings in one. There was the larger, longer wing on top with the smaller beneath it, but it still looked all connected together.

"Wow!" Cloud exclaimed. "So pretty!"

Without a word Angeal flapped the wing and rose up into the air. He flew over head until he was over the cavern. He dove down, rather gracefully and Cloud gripped the fence railing watching him closely. A moment later he shot back up flying as high as he could without actually crashing into the high ceiling.

After that he swooped back down to the floor, landing right next to the group. Cloud still continue to stare with high levels of excitement. "That was so cool! You can really fly like that!"

"We all can fly like that, it just takes some time and practice."

Cloud started to jump up and down. "I can't wait! It sounds like a lot of fun! So now is it your turn Seph?"

"I said to stop calling me that."

"But why? Genesis and Angeal call you that."

"It is because they are my friends."

"Can't I be your friend too?" Cloud asked softly.

Sephiroth ignored the question and looked away from the bright blue eyes that were beaming. He closed his eyes and a moment later he could hear more exciting sounds coming from the blond. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the boy looking right where he expected. Sephiroth stretched his black wing that protruded out from his right side.

His eyes were stretched wide with much more amazement that he had before. "Also so pretty!" He then turned to face Genesis. "And your wing is like his too?"

"Same color, different style," Genesis said before revealing his own wing. It was in fact black like Sephiroth's but the style and shape was much different. Genesis's seemed to be a bit thinner and longer than what Sephiroth's was.

"Are you going to fly now?"

"You already saw Angeal fly, it would be the same if I did it, so no I do not see the point," Sephiroth replied bluntly.

"Aw, but I wanna see your fly! Please? You said you would!"

Sephiroth scoffed. "I said no such thing. I said I would show you the caverns and show you my wing, nothing more."

"Then can you teach me how to fly?" Cloud asked as he tried moving his own wing. It twitched and moved a bit, but looked far from as graceful as the three older boys' wings.

"You will learn in time," Sephiroth said as he hid his wing. "You are still young and new to it, it will take you a little while before you are able to use it properly."

"But, I wanna try flying now…"

"Later," Sephiroth replied. "None of us were able to fly on our first day. We had to get used to our wing and how it felt first before any flying could happen. So trust me when I say that you will get to learn, just not at this moment."

"Promise you'll teach me?" Cloud asked as he held out his hand. He extended his pinky finger out towards Sephiroth. "Pinky promise."

"I will not promise anything. I said it before and I'll say it again, I should not be the one tasked to teach you," Sephiroth said. If he was going to stand his ground on the matter, he had to stay strong, no matter how pleading Cloud's eyes looked.

Cloud dropped his hand and sighed. He just couldn't seem to get through to Sephiroth no matter how he tried. He didn't want to give up though, but he was currently at a loss how he was going to go about it. But he knew he wouldn't give up. Angeal and Genesis said that Sephiroth just had a hard outer shell, whatever that meant. If they could be friends with Sephiroth, then that meant he could too! He was ready to keep on trying, no matter what because he believed he could do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again building up the world lore and stuff for this story. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I am trying my best to write the three older ones in reference to their canon counterparts but ya know at age 14.


	4. Chapter 3

Footsteps entered the room, drawing the attention to whomever it was. The group turned to see Rinoa walking towards them, smiling peacefully. "So this is where you all wandered off to. Showing Cloud around then?"

"He asked to see the caverns, so we did just that," Sephiroth answered.

"Well that sounds like it was nice," Rinoa said before she stopped in front of Cloud. "Did you thank these nice boys for showing you around?"

"Oh! Thank you Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth!" Cloud said as he turned to look at each one of them.

Angeal and Genesis nodded their heads towards Cloud while Sephiroth merely shrugged. Afterwards Rinoa held out her hand towards the little boy. "Good, now that we got that taken care of, can you come with me please?"

"Why?"

"Because," Rinoa answered gently. "We need to find someone who will take care of you. You can't very well just wander around on your own."

Cloud started to shuffle towards Sephiroth, grabbing onto his pant leg once close enough. "But I wanna stay with Sephiroth!"

Rinoa looked back and forth between Cloud and then Sephiroth. She could see the cold usual annoyance that Sephiroth typically sported. Sighing slightly she focused back onto Cloud. "Did you ask to make sure that was okay with Sephiroth?"

"Yeah I did! He said I could!" Cloud then looked up to Sephiroth. "Right? You said I could stay with you?"

"I did not intend for you to actually stay with me the entire time," Sephiroth admitted.

"What?" Cloud asked, feeling the smallest bit of uncertainty.

"I thought showing you around would suffice your curiosity. Never did I really intend for you to continuously stay around me," Sephritoh answered, perhaps a bit too bluntly this time.

A little whining sound came from Cloud as he gripped Sephiroth's pant leg a little tighter. "B-But…"

Sephiroth grumbled as he stepped away, causing Cloud to lose his grip. Right away, Rinoa quickly cleared her throat. "Cloud. Now if Sephiroth said he didn't agree to something like that, then you cannot force him. If someone says 'no' it sadly means no."

"But I wanna stay with Sephiroth!" Cloud said, raising his voice higher as tears swelled in his eyes.

"I'm sorry little one," Rinoa said with as much compassion as she could. "But you can still probably play with Sephiroth whenever you want. How does that sound?"

Cloud frowned heavily as he began to stare at the ground. "I… wanna stay… Sephiroth's my friend…"

"You can still be his friend, but you are going to need an adult to take care of you. So will you please come with me?" Rinoa asked. She held out a hand to Cloud and waited, not wanting to pry the child away against his choice.

Cloud slowly looked to her and then to Sephiroth. He waited for a moment, hoping that Sephiroth would say or do something. But instead he only turned his back to Cloud, not even looking his way anymore. He knew that Angeal and Genesis told him that Sephiroth didn't hate him, but now he just wasn't too sure anymore.

Not knowing what else to do, Cloud ran over to Rinoa and let out a small sob. He felt her arms wrap around him and lift him off the ground. She patted his back gently while she walked away from the area. With one final look, Cloud lifted his head, looking over her shoulder back to the group of three boys. Genesis and Angeal were looking his way, but Sephiroth… he still had his back turned.

After Rinoa carried a crying Cloud off out of the room, Sephiroth finally turned around. Though right away he was met with looks of disapproval from his two friends. A silver eyebrow was raised. "What?"

"You know very well 'what'," Angeal scoffed.

"Seph, honestly I never thought you could be so deplorable," Genesis added while shaking his head lightly.

"Deplorable? I wouldn't see how any of this is deplorable," Sephiroth replied while crossing his path arms. He knew very well that his friends were going to interrogate him over this, yet he didn't have the effort to just walk away from them. They would no doubt follow him anyways.

"That child looked up to you and you just gave him the cold shoulder. You made the little guy cry," Angeal said, speaking as seriously as he could.

"It's not his fault he tried to follow me around. That was all on him," Sephiroth replied, still refusing to move from his spot. If he had to deal with his friends badgering him, he knew he just might as well get it over with. "Besides, I don't like children."

Genesis waved a disapproving finger at Sephiroth. "There haven't been any children here since we were Cloud's age. So your logic is a bit flawed."

"My logic is not flawed. I didn't like being around the other children back then, so I do not like being around children now," Sephiroth huffed heavily. He turned around to stare out to the cavern. "Now is there anything further you wish to pester me about?"

"The kid liked you. He just wanted to be your friend. There isn't much else to say but that," Angel answered from behind him. "You're just being too stubborn to understand."

Sephiroth let out a quick huff air as he began to mull over the thoughts more in depth. He didn't really want to think about it. He would have rather let it go and just move on with his day, but somehow he found himself unable to do so. Something was lingering in the back of his mind and it wouldn't let go of him.

"I'm just a young teen myself. I have no reason or qualifications to raise a child," Sephiroth finally said after his friends stayed quieter than he would have liked.

"No one said you had to _raise_ the young boy," Genesis replied. He hummed softly, thinking over what he would say next before actually speaking. "You just need to be there for him and take care of him. Not as an adult for him, but just something like a brother."

Sephiroth's body tensed up. He barely even seemed to breath for a moment, but the moment passed. He let it sit with him though, going silent once more and it seemed his friends chose to do the same. With that peaceful quietness he finally just let the thoughts run free. " _Why should I think about… never thought I would even consider…"_ He let them roam around in his end until they finally were able to settle down and everything was calm.

Sighing he turned around to face his friends, giving them his usual cold stares that he was known for. "You two are far too persistent, you do know that right?"

Sephiroth didn't even wait for them to respond. He hurried out of the area with a brisk walk, and went down the hallway. Further up ahead he could hear the faint sobs coming from none other than Cloud. Once he was close enough he could see the blond, clinging to Rinoa's shirt, still sobbing heavily.

Sephiroth cleared his throat loudly once he was close enough. "Miss Rinoa."

Rinoa turned around and looked at Sephiroth a little puzzle. "Yes, Sephiroth? Is there something you need?"

"The boy… Cloud. I'd like to request that I do in fact watch over him."

Rinoa's eyes widened slightly. "What? Are you sure about that? I thought that you-"

"I changed my mind on the matter. I know I am still only 14-years-old, but I feel I could be up to the task. I would just be watching out for him and teaching him like the rest. If I ever did need anything, I could always ask any other adult. But…" Sephiroth paused.

Cloud was now staring at him with red eyes. He had stopped his crying and now was waiting on Sephiroth, waiting to see what he would say next. It took Sephiroth a lot more strength that he thought to manage to glance away from the tear-filled boy. Sephiroth was not one for sentimentals not at all. Making eye contact while he said such related things made it even harder for him to comprehend that he was even doing it in the first place.

"But… I believe it would be in Cloud's best interest if I was the one to teach him. Since he seems to have grown close to me even without properly knowing me."

Rinoa smiled softly as she walked closer to Sephiroth. "You sure about this then? You think you could handle it?"

" _Honestly, no. I still have no idea if I could even manage it…"_ Sephiroth had his own thoughts rush to the front of his head, but he did not dare speak them. Instead he said something else. "Yes, I believe it could be possible."

"Well, all right then. If that is what you say, just remember to come to any adult if you ever need help, okay?" Rinoa then looked at the little Cloud who still clung to her. "Hey, did you hear that? Sephiroth wants to still be your friend after all? See? It's just like I was telling you."

"R-Really?" Cloud asked, not to Rinoa, but to Sephiroth instead. His voice was soft and still rather raw from all of his tears.

"Yes. I am sorry if I came off too harsh before."

Without another word, Cloud reached out to him, his arms open and waiting. Though Sephiroth hesitated at first, he didn't miss a beat a second later as he let Cloud into his arms. Right away Cloud held him tightly and rested his head on top of his shoulder. There were still faint sniffles, but they seemed to be finally dying down.

"Well, if that is all, I will leave you two be," Rinoa replied cheerfully before walking off.

Now that they were alone, Sephiroth first adjusted how he held Cloud, hoping to make him more comfortable. "Are you all right now?"

"I'm better now that you're back," Cloud murmured.

"Were you really that upset with what I said before?"

"I… I thought you maybe…." Cloud stopped for a moment to let some sniffles pass by. "Thought you might hate me."

"I never have hated you," Sephiroth said. While he spoke he could feel the oddest pain in his chest. Something he didn't quite understand. "I just am not extremely sociable."

"Oh… okay…" Cloud whispered. "But we can be friends now?"

' _Not as an adult for him, but just something like a brother.'_

There was sudden shudder as the words entered his mind again. It was not something he was able to shake off so easily. Though he did what he could to push them aside for now. No need to want to dwell on them any longer anyways… at least for now. If it had to be dealt with, it would be for a later time. "Yes… friends."

Cloud carefully lifted his head until he was looking at Sephiroth right in the eyes. "Does this mean I can ask more questions?"

Sephiroth's natural response was to say no. He did not like having to answer questions and still didn't, but he saw that there would be no escape from the young curious mind. "If you wish to ask. But do not do it all at once. What you need first is to probably get something to eat. I assume Hojo and his team still are the same with barely giving any food to you on the journey?"

"We had tiny pieces of bread… nothing else… I am actually hungry. I was hungry before but I forgot once I was here."

"Well, let us start with that. We can get some food for ourselves… and maybe I will let you ask a few more questions. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah!" Cloud said, smiling happily. "And if we are friends now, does that mean I get to call you Seph?"

Sephiroth blinked, eyeing the young child carefully. He knew what his immediate response was to be, but he also knew that would end up being the wrong answer. If he was truly going to take care of this kid, he was going to have to at least try to be a bit nicer towards him. "Fine, if it pleases you to do so."

The grin on Cloud's little face stretched even wider. "Yay! Thank you Seph!"

Sephiroth could only sigh as he began walking through the hallways, wondering just how exactly he was going to get through all of this. He knew there would be a way, but he had a feeling it was going to be quiet long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look at that the stubborn Sephiroth being nice for once! Development is happening and there will be more of it.


	5. Chapter 4

Cloud continued to be held by Sephiroth as they made their way through the building. Now they had entered into a different area that had tables that reminded Cloud of the lunchroom tables from school. Various different people were sitting down, some eating quietly by themselves, and others chatting in groups.

Cloud slowly looked around to everyone that he saw in the area. "They all got wings too?"

"Indeed."

"But they know how to do the thing to hide them, right?"

"Yes."

"I can't wait to learn!" Cloud suddenly beamed. "And you get to teach me!"

"That's right." Sephiroth was short and quick with all his words, not entirely sure what else to say to the child. "Come, let's get you some food."

They walked over to where a counter was, behind it was a kitchen like area with many fridges and cabinets. "They have us make our own food, but they do at least give us a good supply…" Sephiroth muttered aloud while he looked through the fridges to see what he wanted to eat.

"Why?"

Sephiroth sighed again, even though he knew he willingly agreed to answer more questions. It was just a difficult subject to talk about and he knew that Cloud was probably a bit too young to fully understand. But he had to try his best to give what he could. "As you know humans… do not like us. They keep us locked up here. But Hojo, for whatever reasons he has, doesn't just kill us off. He keeps us here… to observe us. Like animals in a zoo…"

"That doesn't sound very nice…"

"I know it isn't," Sephiroth said as he decided on some slices of pizza. He was sure the kid would like pizza afterall. He put the pieces on some plates and put them in microwaves to heat up. While they ran he turned to face Cloud. "But it is what we are stuck with and we should be glad that they do not treat us any lower than they already do. There could be a far lot worse done to how we live here if they wanted."

Cloud shuddered slightly at the thought of what possible could be worse. Right away Sephiroth sensed the tension and shook his head. "But let's not think about that. Instead we will eat and help you get situated here."

Cloud seemed to fidget more. "Situated? I… I really won't be going home?"

Even though Sephiroth heard the microwaves beeping behind him, he approached Cloud slowly. He saw no point in trying to avoid this topic. "Unfortunately yes. All of us were captured from our homes and taken here and have lived here ever since."

"But why? Why do they just take us away? How do they know where to find us?" Cloud spat out his questions as quickly as he could. Right away tears started forming in his eyes as he waited for Sephiroth to reply.

Sephiroth kelt down. He looked into Cloud's eyes, giving him as serious of a look as he could. "How much do you know about the winged kind?"

"Not a lot… heard some things but I don't know much."

"Well, let me begin with the basic most part of our kind. We are born every seven years. It is a cycle. In the year that the winged ones turn seven, there are seven other children born that will one day be revealed as winged ones. Does that make sense?"

"I-I think so…"

"Hojo's family have been doing this for years. They keep track of these things so they know where to look. But then there are also the humans who send in reports to Hojo when they see those wings."

"You… you think my mom did that?"

Sighing slightly, Sephiroth placed a hand on top of Cloud's head. "I cannot say yes or no to that. I do not know about your mother and what she thought of you."

"S-She… she loved me a lot. Always took good care of me. B-But when this wing showed up… she st-stopped. Doe that mean she doesn't-"

Sephiroth didn't wait for Cloud to finish. Almost far too instinctively he pulled Cloud into a hug. "Don't think about it. Humans are just afraid of the unknown, and we are just that to them. But do not think about such a thing, okay?"

"But…"

"It is quite unfortunate, but it would be best to not dwell on what you left behind. It will only make things harder."

Faint sobs started up while Sephiroth remained where he was. Pulling away from the hug he knew would only make things harder on poor Cloud. He was stuck with what he had done and had to wait it out. But he no longer knew what to say. He waited quietly as he kept Cloud tightly in his arms, hoping the tears would stop soon enough.

Eventually the tears and sniffles died down. Sephiroth leaned back so he could look at Cloud once more. He could see the cheeks were tearstained and puffy once more. "If you are finished. Shall we eat our food?"

Cloud nodded without saying a word.

Sephiroth returned to the microwaves and quickly set them for a few more seconds, considering how long he waited with Cloud. When they finished he took the plates and told Cloud to follow him. They made their way through the tables until Sephiroth set down the plates at a table that had no one else sitting at it.

Right away Cloud sat himself up on the table and reached for the plate of pizza. As he was doing that Sephiroth went back to the kitchen to grab some bottles of water and then returned to the table. Once he set down the water Cloud looked up at him again.

"Why are we sitting alone?"

"Because I prefer to be alone. I am fond of being around a lot of others. But if you wish to socialize, you can do so," Sephiroth replied before taking his seat.

Cloud glanced around the room at the other tables. He saw the other children that he had been brought in with. Each of them was with an adult and they sat at different tables with different people.

"Maybe later… I don't know if they would like me…" Cloud muttered before going back to eating his pizza.

"Now why would you say that? We are all winged ones here."

"My wing is still really different. What if… what if they don't wanna play with me cause of it? A lotta kids back home didn't like me even before the wing…"

"They will not do such a thing. Here we are all one community. We may not all be friends or super close to one another, but we respect everyone no matter their look," Sephiroth replied, his tone rather reserved.

"Really? That sounds nice… maybe… maybe I will talk to them later."

"Do what you wish, I do not mind."

"Oh, okay," Cloud said. He stared at Sephiroth who was still quietly eating his food. Neither of them spoke a word after that and Cloud just couldn't understand it. He knew that Sephiroth seemed to be kind quiet from the start, but Cloud wasn't too sure if he could get him to talk more. He wasn't even sure what topics he could talk about and if anything would actually work, but he had to try.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Hm? Now why would you ask something like that?"

"Well I wanna know! Cause we're going to be friends, I gotta know these things!" Cloud exclaimed.

Sephiroth hummed softly, looking at the curiosity in Cloud's eyes. It was just a harmless question, nothing more to it. Sighing he finally gave his answer. "I never have given that a thought."

"Whaaat?! You don't have a favorite color?"

"I didn't think it was really critical in life."

"Well I got a favorite color!" Cloud stated proudly.

"And? If you are that excited to ask me, then why don't you tell me yours?"

Cloud grinned widely. "Chocobo yellow of course!"

Sephiroth found himself laughing lightly. The thought of it was ironic and yet Cloud seemed so confident about it. Though when it came to him, he still had no reason or want to talk about his favorites. But something told him that Cloud wasn't going to let him get away from this easily.

"I suppose… if I had to think of a color…" Sephiroth started to say before Cloud had the chance to ask him again. "Perhaps a light blue."

"Like the sky blue?"

Sephright sighed, his figure lowering slightly while he averted his eyes away from Cloud. It was odd to think something like this would actually bother him. But here he was, thinking about things he knew he was no longer privileged to see. "Yeah, we could say that."

"Have you not seen the sky in a while? Cause there are no windows to see outside?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No."

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Cloud lowered his head. He hadn't quite realized how serious this was but the fact that Sephiroth hadn't seen the sky in who knows how long was worrying. Did that mean he also wasn't going to get to see the sky? He already knew that he wasn't going to go home anymore… and if this place had no windows to see outside… then he really wasn't going to see the outside anymore.

Cloud started to sniffle again, not able to contain his emotions like it seemed that Sephiroth could do. He was always so calm and serious and Cloud couldn't understand how he was able to do such a thing in the first place. Sephiroth was still so strange to him yet he still wanted to stay close. He could feel that Sephiroth could be nice, but for some reason he just was bad at showing it. His other friends were nice. Cloud really liked Sephiroth's friends Angeal and Genesis and if they were friends with Sephiroth, that meant he had to be friendly with them. At least that was what Cloud though in his head. He still wasn't too sure of it, but he wanted to believe Sephiroth could be really friendly when he wanted to.

"Are you really going to start crying again?" Sephiroth asked.

"Maybe…"

Sephiroth sighed before moving to sit next to Cloud. "You can't keep crying over everything that happens. It will get you nowhere."

Cloud lowered his head. "B-But…"

" _There he goes again with the 'but' thing. Seems like it is just a natural part of being a child like he is…"_ Sephiroth thought to himself.

"What is it this time?"

"I'm… I'm just really scared…" Cloud leaned against Sephiroth before letting more of his tears flow out.

Not saying a word, Sephiroth placed an arm around Cloud. He didn't hold him super tight, but kept his arm steady. "I guess… if you must cry. Do so as you want. I'll stay right here with you. You understand?"

"Y-Yeah… thanks Seph," Cloud replied softly.

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud, who now was leaning even more against him. While he stared down at the boy, he heard footsteps coming closer to their table. He looked up to see a man with medium length dark hair. He stared curiously and concerned at Sephiroth and then to Cloud with his reddish brown eyes.

"What's happened here?"

"Nothing that needs any worry, Vincent" Sephiroth replied. "He is just having a hard time with understanding everything here."

"Who's the one who will be taking care of him?" Vincent asked.

" _Always blunt and straight to the point aren't you?"_ Sephiroth thought quietly to himself. He then cleared this throat. "I'm going to take care of him."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "You?"

"Yes me. Cloud has strangely grown fond of wanting to follow me around. So I have come to figure if he is going to do so, I might as well look out for him as well."

Cloud raised his head, looking to Sephiroth first and then Vincent. "Are you two friends?"

Vincent closed his eyes, letting out a small muffled chuckle. "No, I would say that we are more like acquaintances."

"Acquaintances?" Cloud asked as he titled his head to the side.

"It just means that we know each other, but we are not friends like how I am friends with Genesis or Angeal," Sephiroth answered. "Like what I was explaining to you before about how not everyone is friends with every other person here."

"Oooh. I think get it," Cloud said before sitting up right. He then smiled at Vincent. "It's nice to meet you though!"

"Same to you," Vincent replied, giving a slight smile. It seemed that he was just as quiet and reserved as Sephiroth seemed to be, but at the same time it also felt completely different. He then shifted into a more serious gaze while looking to Sephiroth. "Are you sure you would be able to handle this?"

"I am only watching out for him and training him. He isn't a baby that is incapable of doing anything on his own. He will learn and be able to function basically on his own soon enough. I am just here to guide him."

"If that is what you say," Vincent said before crossing his arms.

Letting out a soft sigh, Sephiroth thoughts over what he could say. Vincent was a tough one to convince. He really didn't want to have to explain this to every single person that would ask him, but if he had to, he knew what he needed to say. "If I do require any assistants I know that I can ask any adult here."

"Very well then. Wish you well with that."

Vincent Turner around briskly and walked away from the table, leaving Cloud feeling very confused. "Why'd he just leave like that?"

"Vincent is a man of few words and very little social interaction. Perhaps more so than me."

"How long has he been here?" Cloud couldn't help but ask all the questions that were coming to his mind.

"He was my age when I was yours. So do you know how old that makes him?" Sephiroth asked, deciding to make this more of an educational conversation. If he was to watch and take care of Cloud, it made sense to at least make sure he knew how to do basic math.

"Oh. Um…" Cloud started to count on his fingers. After a moment he looked up to Sephiroth. "He's 21?"

Sephiroth gave a nod. "That's right. Good job."

Placing a hand on top of Cloud's head, Sephiroth began to ruffle his hair. Like all winged ones the hair was soft, far softer than what a normal human's hair would be. It was the same softness that their feathered wings had, though Cloud of course didn't have a wing like that. Either way his hair still held the same trait the rest of them had.

Cloud giggled happily and suddenly Sephiroth stopped. He pulled his hand away and stared deeply. He hadn't even realized what he had been doing… he had only gotten lost in the moment. Staring down at his hand, he almost seemed perplexed by the simple motion he had preformed. But it was much more than that… so much more that he wanted to try to keep out of his mind.

"Seph?" Cloud was now looking at him with a confused look. "You okay?"

Sephiroth slowly curled his fingers into a fist. It wasn't tightly held and he decided to relax a moment later. There was no reason for him to worry or think about it. He still didn't want to dwell on it anymore anyway. "I'm fine," Sephiroth answered. "Nothing that you need to worry about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da a new chapter has arrived!! Thank you all for checking out this story so far! Hope you are all enjoying it!


	6. Chapter 5

After they had eaten, Cloud asked to see more of the building, but the hour was already late when Sephiroth glanced at the clock. "Perhaps tomorrow. For now we should get ready to sleep for the night."

"Aw… already?"

"Yes."

Sephiroth stood up and started to head out of the room with Cloud trailing right besides him. "But then what will we do tomorrow?"

"We will help you to get more adjusted to being here as well as start what training we can with using your wing," Sephiroth answered.

"Oh! That sounds fun!"

"I suppose you could say that…" Sephiroth never really thought it was all too fun. They were stuck in the building all day and night. They had no freedom to do anything that they truly would get to do out in the outside world. So many restrictions and confinements… so little freedom. But Cloud did not understand any of that yet… he was too young to truly understand. But in time perhaps he would…

"Come, this way."

Sephiroth started to lead him out of the area and just as they edited the one room, Cloud reached out and grabbed hold of Sephiroth's hand. When Sephiroth turned to look at him, Cloud just grinned widely.

Sephiroth thought to remind him about not holding on to his hand, he had refused to do it before. But then he figured since he promised Cloud that he would be his friend and watch over it, he knew that it probably would make sense to just let him do so.

After walking down a couple of hallways they came down to one door which Sephiroth opened. Right away Cloud let go of Sephiroth and moved forward to explore the new room. It was strange to see a child so easily curious about everything, but Sephiroth reminded himself that every child was different. Some were more curious than others, others far different than himself.

The room itself was very basic. It had a dresser that was opposite of the door, and up against each side wall was a bunk bed. Just left of the main doorway was another door that led into a small bathroom. But Cloud wasn't focused on that part, instead he looked to see Genesis and Angeal were already on the left side with Angeal sitting up on the top bunk and Genesis on the lower one. Both of them now wore basic sleepwear clothing rather than the uniforms they had been in before.

"You're here too?" Cloud asked as he walked over to them.

Genesis gave a small nod. "Yes. Though there are many rooms, we can bunk with one another if we prefer."

"Ooh! I get it! But that sounds fun. It's like a big sleepover or something, but like all the time."

"I suppose that is a simple way of phrasing it," Genesis replied. "So how was Seph? Did he apologize?"

"Uh-huh! He did and then we went to eat and he told me about how all the others got wings too. Then we met um… I think his name was Vin… Vin something."

"Vincent," Angeal answered.

"Yeah! That was his name. He was kind of quiet but then he went somewhere else. Then we came here."

"Sounds like your evening went fairly well."

"I guess. But… now I gotta stay here right? That's what Seph was saying. We all just say here or something? Right Seph?" Cloud turned around but he saw that Sephiroth wasn't behind him. He wondered for a moment where he could have gone but then he noticed that the bathroom door was closed.

"Sadly that is the case for our kind. To be confined in these walls is what the humans have deemed to be out fate," Genesis replied.

"It's really sad… and still really scary…" Cloud frowned slightly as he stared down at the ground.

Angeal and Genesis looked to one another. They could completely understand how Cloud felt. After all, they were his age once too and went through the exact same thing. But at the same time they had spent seven years in this facility and they had grown accustomed to it. It almost was surprising that they thought of it this way, but it just was how they were growing up. There was no other way around it or other way they could even think about it.

But either way they knew that something would have to be sad to the young child before them. Genesis was the one to speak first after that. "This place may give off that vibe, but we have lived this long without much struggle. Only if you seek to cause trouble will things then be difficult for you."

Cloud pouted. "I don't wanna cause trouble though."

"Then you will have no issues, but it still will take you time," Angeal added.

Sephiroth headed out of the bathroom, now dressed in sleepwear, and made his way over to the lower bunk on the right. Right away Cloud turned to him and ran over, standing next to the edge of the bed. "Do I get the top bunk?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes"

"Wow!" Cloud said as his eyes lit up. "I never slept on a bunk bed before or even the top bunk of one! But…" Cloud glanced to the wing that still stuck out on his side. "How am I going to sleep with this?"

"On your side or stomach is the best option. It will come easier to you than you realize. But once you learn to hide your wing then there will be no problem."

"Ooh! Okay!" Cloud suddenly moved forward, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth. "Goodnight Seph!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly even though he knew he should have expected something like this from Cloud. Yet it still somehow surprised him and he had a feeling he wasn't going to get used to it right away… but at the same time it felt nice… almost familiar. But before he could dwell on it he shook away those thoughts and waited for Cloud to finish his hug.

"Goodnight," Sephiroth replied softly after Cloud finally let go.

Cloud smiled at him before he went to climb up the ladder to the top bunk. Once he was up there Sephiroth turned to see Angeal and Genesis grinning smugly at him. He gave a smear in return before going to crawl under his sheets. He made sure to face the opposite of them so he wouldn't have to deal with their anxious stares. The last thing he needed right now was for them to taunt or tell him off about his actions.

* * *

When morning came, which was indicated by the alarm clock going off, Sephiroth groggily opened up his eyes. What he did not expect to see in front of him was Cloud, staring curiously. He smiled right away once he saw that Sephiroth was staring back at him. "Good morning Seph!"

"What do you think you are doing?" Sephiroth asked as he slowly sat up.

"Waiting for you to wake up."

"But… why?"

"Cause. I was waiting."

Behind Cloud, Sephiroth could hear the light snickers coming from the other two. Sighing Sephiroth finally pushed off the covers and stood up from the bed. "There's no need to just sit and wait for me to wake up. There are other things you could be doing."

"Like what?" Cloud asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"I.. I don't know, but I am sure we will find something."

After that Sephiroth went to get changed into the uniform and once he was finished he headed right outside of the room, not waiting for any of the other three. It wasn't long though before Cloud was running up to be by his side. "What are we going to do today?"

"First breakfast, then we see how the day goes. Most likely we can work on hiding your wing," Sephiroth answered.

"But what about flying?"

"That comes later."

"Aw…" Cloud frowned while lowering his head. "Okay… but I can't wait! It will be a lot of fun I bet! And you get to show me your wing again!"

"Why are you so interested in seeing my wing?" Sephiroth asked as they entered the cafeteria.

"Cause it looked really, really cool! Plus you said that only you and Genesis have wings with that color! So it makes it extra cool for sure!" Cloud said, his expression beaming with excitement.

Sighing Sephiroth kept walking. The unending energy that came from Cloud was still a bit too much for him to handle at the moment. He wanted his personal space but he knew that Cloud would not understand the concept. Soon enough he turned around and faced Cloud just as he saw Angeal and Genesis catch up to them.

"Why don't you find a table with Angeal and Genesis? I will gather food for the four of us."

"Okay," Cloud said before turning to the other two.

Angeal and Genesis smirked again towards Sephiroth who just let out a huff of air before walking into the kitchen area. Cloud didn't understand it though. He thought that Angeal and Genesis were just being friendly, so why was Sephiroth acting all grumpy? It confused him… but maybe he could ask Angeal and Genesis. Maybe they knew cause they were friends with Sephiroth longer than he had been.

"All right, let's see where we have room to sit," Angeal said as he started to scan the room for the most open tables. "Over there, come on."

Cloud walked between the two of them as they walked, and then he finally asked what was on his mind. "Is Seph just grumpy when he wakes up? Cause he really seems grumpy today."

Genesis was the first to laugh. "I wouldn't call him grumpy… well maybe a slight bit. But I think he may just be overwhelmed."

Cloud tilted his head to the side. "Over… whelmed?"

"He isn't used to a little child hanging around him so much. Since Seph is a fairly quiet guy who enjoys his personal space, this is all just a bit new to him," Genesis answered.

"Especially since he has agreed to watch over you. I honestly am surprised that he would actually do it," Angeal added. "But I suppose this will be rather interesting to see him adjust."

Genesis smiled. "Agreed."

Now that they were nearing their table, Cloud finally had a better chance to look around. There were more people in the room today than there were last night. It wasn't a crazy amount of people, but there was still probably more than he could count. Though at the table the two older boys chose to sit at, one half of the table already had a couple people sitting there.

He only knew one of them though, with it being one of the kids he had been brought in with. It was the other boy who was named Tyler. Just like Cloud he has his wing still sticking out of his back. He sat across from a young woman who had light pink hair and wore the black colored uniform.

When the boys took a seat and Cloud followed after, the woman looked to them and smiled. "Hello boys, how are you today? I see you have Cloud with you. It's nice to meet you."

Cloud shrunk back a bit, feeling a little shy and nervous. But then he remembered what Sephiroth had told him. Everyone here had a wing, which meant this lady did too. Though that left Cloud to wonder just what color it must have been. He was already very curious because she had a unique hair color too.

"Hi. What's your name?"

"You can call me Lightning," the woman replied.

"Ooh! That's a really cool name!"

Lightning smiled again. "Thank you. So I heard from Rinoa that Sephiroth is the one who is taking care of you?"

Cloud nodded quickly. "Yup!"

"It's quite surprising to think that he would actually take a task such as this," Lightning replied. She then looked over to Genesis and Angeal. "Who would have thought he had a soft side to him."

"I agree, it makes you wonder if he always has had this side," Genesis said.

"Or maybe Cloud is just someone really special," Angeal said adding on to the conversation.

Cloud didn't really get what they were talking about. Sure Sephiroth was a bit grumpy at times, but he was really nice and caring. Was he not always like that? Maybe he was different before Cloud actually met him. He wasn't too sure about that though. But it did give him a thought to think about. "Maybe it's cause of my wing? Cause he stood up for me?"

Lightning hummed softly. "Hmm, that could very well be a reason for it. You are the first to have a wing like that."

"Yeah!" Tyler suddenly interjected. "Why do you have a wing like that?"

"I don't know…" Cloud frowned slightly. "Seph just told me we all got wings, but you all got feathery ones, but I got this one."

"Well there are always new developments we seem to find about our kind." Lightning looked back at Cloud once more. "Do you know what color most of our wings are?"

Cloud quickly shook his head, but found himself feeling very eager to know.

"Most range from white to various shades of grey. Only Genesis and Spehiroth have black wings. But there are other unique qualities that some of us have. Myself included."

"Wow, really? How so?" Cloud asked.

Tyler nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I wanna know too. You haven't told me yet about your wing."

Suddenly a white wing appeared on Lightning's right side. From what Cloud had seen so far, this wing looked different than how Angeal's looked. This looked more like a regular wing, like the shapes that Genesis and Sephiroth had for theirs. But of course it was still different in its shape and style overall. Though the longer that Cloud looked, he noticed this wing was not fully white. There was the lightest tint of pink to the feathers.

"Wow! That's really pretty!" Tyler replied.

"It's got pink like your hair! That is super cool!" Cloud complemented.

"Thank you, both of you. But you see? We all have unique traits. So Cloud, I think that just makes you extra special."

Cloud grinned, feeling even better than he did before. He was the only one to have a wing like his. Even though it did scare him at first and wasn't as pretty as the rest he had seen, it was still his wing. Sephiroth seemed to like it cause he stood up and defended him, and now was friends with him. Cloud thought that it really must have meant something because of that. But now he was super curious to find out more about the wings… more about his kind, and he hoped that Sephiroth could tell him all he wanted to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I did get a bit stuck on this, but hey I did get to it finally. So yeah all the minor OCs that will appear here and there all got someone watching out for them. All FF characters of course, so you will see more around.   
> Sorry for the wait but thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

Sephiroth came by the table soon enough and sat down next to Cloud. He placed down a tray that had an assortment of different food on it. Carefully he passed out different things to Angeal, Genesis and then Cloud before going to eat from the last food left, which was just a bowl of cereal.

"Hi Seph!" Cloud grinned happily. "We were talking about wings and stuff with Lightning and I'm learning a lot more!"

"Is that so?" Sephiroth glanced at the other two at the table. He had no real reason to be sitting with so many others as it was usually just Genesis and Angeal, but he wasn't about to rudely leave.

"Yeah! There are a lot of different colors with the wings, even if you can't really tell at first. But still only you and Genesis have black wings, but there are a lot of colors for the others. And people have different colored hair with their wings sometimes having the same color," Cloud said eagerly.

"That's right. You are learning," Sephiroth replied. "You'll learn more after some time and see the other wings soon enough. I am sure you will find it just as fascinating."

"Yeah, but I want you to teach me more! That's what I am looking forward to the most. I bet you can explain a lot about it, right?" Cloud said as he stared more directly towards Sephiroth.

He could hear light snickers from the others at the table. So much attention was being brought upon himself even if most of it was from the two of his friends. Such attention was still not what he was a fan of. But with Cloud being the way he was, he knew that the attention was never going to cease anytime soon.

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "I can teach you yes, I did agree to that."

"I can't wait!" Cloud grinned happily before going to eat his food.

After a few minutes the speakers clicked on. There was a brief moment of silence as the entire cafeteria quieted down. Once they were quiet, that was when the voice from the speakers came.

"Since today is the second day that the new winged ones arrived, that means we can begin testing. Bring the new five to the center room after your meals. Do not waste any time though, I'd prefer to keep my schedule on track."

The speakers clicked off after that and conversations resumed. Though Cloud couldn't help but wonder as always what everything meant. He turned to Sephiroth a moment after. "What was that about?"

"That was Hojo… the man who runs this place. After new children come in… he runs tests…" Sephiroth answers quietly before trailing off.

"Don't just leave it at that," Genesis said. "You'll only scare him more that way." Genesis then looked at Cloud. "There is nothing to worry about. These tests are just like when you would go to the doctor. Nothing scary about that."

Cloud seemed to look a bit concerned at first but he relaxed after hearing Genesis's words. "So it really isn't that bad?"

"Not at all," Angeal answered. "As long as you don't make Hojo upset. That man…" Angeal paused, thinking over what he wanted to say. "I wouldn't know how to explain it…"

"Maybe I can," Lightning interjected. "He has very low tolerance for those who don't listen to him. With his family running this place for years he has his strict way about things. All he cares about are his viewpoints in science and has no compassion for our kind or even his own."

All of the boys were now staring at Lighting who seemed perfectly content with her answer as she went to going back to eating her food. Eventually Sephiroth sighed and looked to Cloud, who was starting to look more worried before. He placed a hand on top of Cloud's head and looked at him with a relaxed gaze.

"She may have been too harsh with her words. I assure you that you don't need to be afraid, okay?" Sephiroth said as he spoke slowly.

"Okay," Cloud replied quietly. While he was still really confused by what had been said, he knew that he could trust Sephiroth. Sephiroth had the right words to things so he knew it would be okay in the end.

* * *

After breakfast, Cloud followed right by Sephiroth's side. They walked back to the large room that Cloud had first been brought to. In the center of the room now stood the men who wore the armor, still and unmoving as Cloud and Sephiroth approached.

Looking around Cloud realized that Lightning and Tyler were close behind, but there were also others. The other children he has been brought in with all were walking with someone who seemed to be from Lightning's age or older.

Mizari walked with a man who also had silver hair, but his hair did not seem as long as Sephiroth's. Aside from that, he also had a scar that ran over his left eye. With Luna, a slightly older woman walked alongside her. She had blue hair that was pulled back and small glasses that rested on her nose. Finally with Skyler she was with a man who also wore glasses, but he had short dirty blond hair.

All of the children still had their wings sticking out, some of them moving slightly with others tucked up against their back. Cloud stared, seeing all of them with their feathered wings… and then he looked at his own. No feathers at all… but instead black and smooth in texture. Such a contrasting difference and he still felt a little unselfconscious about it. But then he glanced up to Sephiroth and reminded himself of what the boy had said. He remembered how Sephiroth said that his wing wasn't to be feared and just was really unique. It really did give him a good sense of comfort to know that.

But no the armored guards stepped forward. "The children will come with us now, to be taken to the tests."

There was a moment of hesitation from all of the children, even Cloud. None of them wanted to move towards the scary men before the. Cloud turned to Sephiroth and frowned. "Can't you come with me? Please?"

Sephiroth shook his head, but knelt down to Cloud's level. "I am afraid I can't. But just remember what was said. Listen and behave and I'll see you as soon as possible okay?"

"Okay," Cloud replied before hugging Sephiroth quickly.

After he let go he turned around and slowly moved towards the men. Once he stood beside the men, the other children followed after him, all being quiet and not speaking a word.

When the children were all lined up they followed out of the room and the door was closed shortly after, leaving the older winged ones behind. Once it seemed they had their time to themselves the older silver haired man walked over to Sephiroth.

"So it's really true as Rinoa says?" the silver haired man, Setzer, asked.

"Yes, and what about it?" Sephiroth replied.

"It's just that you are a bit young to raise a child?" he asked before crossing his arms.

"I am not raising him, just looking after him."

Setzer scoffed slightly. "I see no difference."

Before Sephiroth could think of something to reply with, Ignis came over, pushing his glasses up as he usually did. "There can be quite a difference actually. For Sephiroth taking care of Cloud, it is more along the relationship of friends or brothers rather than the parental type that we play."

Brother. That was the second time it had been said to Sephiroth. It still lingered in mind and heart, the mere thought of the word pushing against his chest. But he didn't refuse the thought, despite the feeling it was causing. He wasn't sure actually how he wanted to deal with it but he knew trying to shove it away was the wrong answer.

"Well I still would not have suspected Sephiroth of all of the teens to step up and take on the job, " Setzer replied.

"Well you haven't seen enough then," Lightning interjected. "You only saw briefly how he talked to Cloud. He was doing that gentle way of speaking beforehand. So I can attest that he can handle it."

Finally the last one of the group, Harley, spoke up. "And you shouldn't forget that I myself first took care of one of the new winged ones when I was only 21." She chuckled lightly. You are never too young to help look after others. Besides after that very nice speech Sephiroth gave yesterday, I think he has what it takes. Wouldn't you agree, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth sighed a little. "I guess. Cloud just kind of took a liking to me and stuff. I guess my words really must have affected him."

"But of course," Ignis replied. "With such a new style of wing he was scared to be outcast. But you were the first to stand up and defend him, giving a good impression on his young mind."

"Yes, I know that. I never would have considered him to follow after me though. But…" Sephiroth thought over the matter. It was still hard to place his feelings directly over which way he felt. He thought that he wouldn't care, yet things kept happening that left him open to these emotions. But he knew Cloud had his mind set in following after him. There seemed to be no other way for the child now that he had made his decisions. "I suppose it can't be all too bad. He isn't a bad kid at least."

Harley smiled fondly. "That's great to hear Sephiroth. I'm glad you have made a new friend at least. Though you know if you ever need any help or tips, don't be afraid to ask."

"I know and understand," Sephiroth said with a nod. "I will do what I can to help him. It's just mainly flying training among other things that he will need. I know there is more to it than that, but it's what he seems most excited about."

Setzer nodded. "Most children are, but I still have to wonder about the boy's wing." He could see Sephiroth was giving him a suspicious glance, making him laugh. "I'm not saying or thinking anything bad about it. But it is something to wonder about with the rareness that is his wing."

"I agree, it is a bit puzzling that he is the only one with a wing like that," Lighting added.

"Well I say there is still a lot to learn about our kind. We still don't know the full reason behind our genetics and if there is a factor there," Ignis said as he pushed up his glasses again. "But I'd like to believe there is something that can be applied like that."

"Maybe," Sephiroth responded.

He had his own feelings over the matter, but he never spoke them out loud. He was sure all the rest would agree anyway but to talk about it publicly was a risk… for it was all about Hojo. Everyone there knew that these 'tests' were just ways for him to further his studies and experiments. He wanted to discover the hidden traits and reasons for the winged kind, and he would go to any measures he could to achieve them. But speaking out against Hojo too often would only lead to trouble. Sephiroth knew that it was too much of a risk even if he wanted answers.

But that always led him to thinking other things as well. Thoughts of the future and what could be done. He despised Hojo and hated this oppressed life. Everyone else did as well, but Sephiroth assumed none of them thought about their stolen freedom as much as he did. He wanted to get out… to be free again with no one to confine him. There were always secret thoughts and plans he had that he hoped one day he would try… that maybe one day he could escape. But now Cloud was factored into the mix of his plans. There could never be an escape attempt of any kind if he had a child following him every minute of the way… but maybe with some thought there could be. Maybe one day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got some more FF cameo characters from various games. 
> 
> But either way I finally got out of my slump I was in for this. So now I can finally get back to my plans. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

Sephiroth waited quietly along with the others. He didn't engage in conversation with any of them though after the initial one. He sat down at one of the tables and just waited as best as he could. He had no want or need to talk anyways. As long as he could be left alone, he would be fine.

That was what he wanted of course, but there was always something that would ruin that. Setzer walked over and sat down next to him, and from the look on his face he had a thing or two to say. "So, tell me why."

"You'll have to be more specific, otherwise I don't know what you refer to."

"The new kid and you. Why did you want to take care of him?"

"I did not want to. I never really wanted to in the first place," Sephiroth answered dryly. He knew he was going to have to talk, as Setzer was not one to back down from conversation, but that didn't make explaining it any easier. He had to give it a try though, for he knew it wouldn't be easy to get away from. "But he just followed me, so instant and determined. I think it was because of what I said and that I too have a unique wing."

"Hmm…" Setzer hummed, stroking his chin. "I suppose I can see that. And you let him stick around? Rather than just let another adult watch over him?"

"He only wanted me to take care of him. Perhaps because he never had someone to look up to, I am not entirely sure."

"So despite being already 7-years-old he is like a newborn chick and you are the person he imprinted on," Setzer replied with a chuckle.

Sephiroth hummed but didn't answer back. By this point he just wanted to be left to his own devices. But he wasn't annoyed enough to just get up and leave the table, not yet at least. So instead he closed his eyes and tried to relax, hoping it would be a sign for Setzer to leave him alone.

"Is that really all you have?" Setzer questioned.

"Yes I'm sure."

"Hm, we'll I guess we'll just see how this goes then," Setzer replied before he stood up from the table.

Now alone again Sephiroth tried to focus his thoughts elsewhere. There was nothing more than he really wanted to do other than wait for Cloud to get back. Though from there he wasn't too sure what would be next for two of them to do together. He only knew that Cloud would indeed follow him no matter where he went.

There was the option of preparing him for flight. That was probably the easiest option over the others as learning to hide the wing would still take some time. But on the topic of flight, his mind started to wrap around the idea of actually teaching someone. When he had been taught years ago, he was still not partial to being around others, but there was one sure thing about all of it.

The actual chance to fly for the first time, the exhilaration he felt when he lifted off the ground and found himself to be in the air. Even if he was only able to fly in the underground caverns rather than the sky, it was still more than enough. The feeling was something he couldn't properly describe.

So now he began to wonder, if Cloud was that excited to see someone fly, how would he be actually flying? Sephiroth could only assume that the young boy would enjoy it. He would be thrilled especially to fly along with the others.

Without even realizing it, Sephiroth was smiling at the idea of teaching Cloud how to fly. The idea of watching and teaching the young child learn seemed far different then when he was taught along the others his age. This could be just a personal one on one training, it didn't need to be with the others.

 _"I actually am wanting to train him… very strange. Maybe or maybe perhaps it's for…"_ Sephiroth sighed, shaking the thoughts away. _"No. No more thoughts of before. It never helps."_

Trying to push the thoughts out of his mind, his breathing became heavier. It always did when he actually let the memories plague his mind. He hated it, every moment that flickered and taunted him. Slowly he ran his fingers through his hair, weaving them through it until he reached the end. After that he repeated the motion again and again, trying to find solace in it.

There were times where he thought he should cut his hair again, he had never been the one to do it though. It was always some adult who offered, saying that he shouldn't let it get too long otherwise it would be too unmanageable. But he honestly couldn't have cared less on the length, the longer it was the more soothing the motion felt.

"Seph! Seeeeeph!"

Snapping his head to the side he saw that Cloud was standing besides him now, his eyes were as wide and curious as ever. "Seph? You doing okay?"

" _Did that much time pass by already…?"_ Sephiroth questioned as he looked around the room. He could already see the others leaving with the other young ones, leaving him with Cloud to be alone in the room. " _I guess time must have slipped away from me."_

"Is everything all right?" Sephiroth asked before placing a hand onto Cloud's shoulder. "How did it go?"

"I was… I was a little scared," Cloud admitted. "But I did as you said I was really good and behaved!"

"I'm glad," Sephiroth answered softly before standing up. "Now come, I feel there is more we could do for today."

"More to do?" Cloud asked.

"We must keep ourselves occupied of course."

"So we can play games or something?"

"That could be one thing, come let's go," Sephiroth said as he began to walk out of the current room.

Cloud trailing right by his side, looking just as cheerful as before. Soon enough before they were even in the hallway, Cloud already had grabbed his hand again. Like before, Sephiroth chose not to say anything and just let Cloud have his enjoyment of the hand holding. He was still a child after all and Sephiroth thought it was best in the end to just let the kid be himself. After what happened the day prior he didn't want to leave Cloud upset again.

Eventually they made it back out to the outlook over the caverns. Clearing his throat, Sephiroth pulled his hand free from Cloud and turned to face him. "As I promised I will help you start training to use your wing."

"Oh!" Cloud shouted, his eyes beaming with excitement. "I forgot you said we could do that! This is going to be so fun! I get to fly!"

"You may not be able to fly right off at the start, but we can try to prepare you," Sephiroth answered before he brought out his wing and began to stretch it.

"Ooh? Is that what you did? Did it take you a few days to learn to fly?" Cloud asked as he stepped closer. Sephiroth could practically see the curiosity flowing through Cloud's eyes and into his words.

"Yes, it does take time to get used to. But I will be here as your guide," Sephiroth answered and he could see how happy his words made Cloud. The smile on the little boy was even making him feel a small warmth in his chest. "To start though you need to become in tune with your wing. It is a new extension of your body after all."

Cloud tilted his head to the side. "New exten… sion?"

Sephiroth sighed, realizing that his knowledge in vocab was clearly going over Cloud's head. "The wing is a new part of your body, you need to train it to work like how you use your arms or legs. Focus on the wing, try to feel it there… and uh… feel how it is, and try to extend it like this."

Sephiroth demonstrated while internally he grew frustrated how difficult it was to explain something that was so simple to him now. He had gone through seven years learning and refining how to fly. All of it was second nature to him as it was to everyone by that point, barely even remembering what it was like without his wondrous wing that gave the ability to fly.

But the only thing he could do was hope that Cloud could understand in time. As of right now his eyes were closed, scrunched together along with his nose. From the look of it it either looked like he was trying to hold in a sneeze or was deeply concentrating. Sephiroth hoped that it was the latter of the two.

Slowly he could see that Cloud's wing was moving ever so slightly. It was contracting and then expanding to the smallest degree, but it was in fact something. With a deep breath Cloud opened his eyes, looking to his wing first and then to Sephiroth.

"Did I do it? I think like I was. I felt really weird but I could feel the wing? And I tried to move it and stuff."

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes you started just fine. Keep trying at it, but don't work yourself so hard."

"Aw but this is boring…" Cloud pouted. "I wanna fly already…

"You need to practice first. It is what I did and everyone else here. You can do it."

"Can you take me flying first?" Cloud asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Take you… what do you mean by that?"

"Carry me! And then you fly around so I can feel how cool it is to fly! Cause that'll make me wanna fly even more"

Sephiroth sighed a little, trying not to show his frustration. "I doubt I can support your weight to fly you around."

"Then just float off the ground or something? Like just a little? Please? Pleeeeease?" Cloud asked as he clasped his hands together.

Knowing that Cloud would no doubt persist, Sephiroth decided to just give it a try. There was no harm in just hovering above the ground by a few feet. The cavern could be for another time anyways since Cloud would probably ask again. He opened his arms and waited for Cloud to wrap his arms around him and hold on tightly.

"All right, fine. Are you ready?"

"Hmm yes!" Cloud declared.

Breathing in slowly, Sephiroth started to flap his wing. He wasn't entirely used to the extra weight that clung on to him, but he did his best to not give into it. He pushed a little further and moved up into the air, a couple of feet off the ground. He could hear the gasp and amused chuckles coming from Cloud as he rose up a little higher, trying to stand within the same area he started.

"This is so cool! We're flying! We're really up in the air flying!"

"Hovering to be correct, but yes we are," Sephiroth replied.

Cloud grinned and rested his head on Sephiroth's shoulder. "Thanks Seph, this is really cool."

With a smile gracing his lips, Sephiroth shifted one hand to cradle the back of Cloud's head. "You're welcome, Cloud."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man it has been a while, but I was able to pull through and make this next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed Seph slowly being a big brother.


End file.
